


Without you this dream would feel so empty

by fandammit, shadowmoon3



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hope, Kabby, Post-Season/Series 02, Pre-Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 08:46:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10918374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandammit/pseuds/fandammit, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowmoon3/pseuds/shadowmoon3
Summary: Set between Season 2 and 3. Kane and Abby from Lincoln's point of view.





	Without you this dream would feel so empty

**Author's Note:**

> Massive shoutout to THE best co-writer, lelawry! This wouldn't exist if it weren't for her brilliant ideas, eloquent way with words, and constant encouragement!

It had been nearly a month since Skaikru and the Grounders escaped Mount Weather, and the people of Arkadia were finally starting to believe that they could live in peace. While Marcus, Abby, and most of the delinquents had accepted Lincoln into Arkadia, he could still feel the uneasy stares boring through him every time he walked through camp. Octavia bristled at it, her love for him and distrust of Skaikru hardening her stare and her heart, but he knew the ways in which uncertainty and ignorance often worked together to fuel fear. And so he worked tirelessly to prove that he – and, by extension, his people – were not to be feared, but could in fact help with the survival of Arkadia. He was a warrior – reluctant at times, but still hardened by years of battle – and so he teamed up with Bellamy to train others how to spar and fight, took up guard duties to ensure the safety of Arkadia.

But he was glad, too, that being in Arkadia allowed him to be more than the warrior Trikru had always forced him to be. Lately, the med bay was always swamped, filled with a constant influx of people still needing attention for the injuries they sustained from Mount Weather and just adjusting to the ever-changing conditions on the ground. He constantly found himself admiring Abby – had, in fact, ever since she had taken it upon herself to negotiate a truce with Trikru. Just as she had then, he saw her constantly putting the needs of her people before herself. And so he tried to lighten her burden by offering to handle the minor cases that dragged themselves into medical. 

Tonight, he glanced over at Abby when he finished cleaning and changing the bandages on a patient, impressed by her resiliency, despite the look of exhaustion written all over her face. Even his own legs were starting to feel sore after tending to patients since the crack of dawn, but no matter how often Jackson or he pleaded Abby to take a break, she always insisted she was fine with a smile. He had also noticed that in the rare instances Abby did take a moment to herself, she would quietly go to her desk to check her datapad for updates on Clarke’s whereabouts.

Sometime after nine, when the flow of patients had finally slowed, Lincoln looked up to see Kane walking into the med bay, his Skaikru guard jacket draped over his shoulder. Marcus gave him and Jackson a quick nod as his eyes scanned the room for Abby. Years of tracking and stealth meant that he never missed the small smile that spread across Kane’s face every time he came to see Abby. He walked over to Abby and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention away from the datapad in her hands. 

“I wanted to see how you were holding up before I head off to my shift,” Lincoln heard Kane tell Abby.

He watched as Abby lifted her head and met Marcus’ eyes. Suddenly, it was as though the weight and weariness of the day dropped from her shoulders, the pensive look in her eyes softening to something more tender. Despite all that fell on her - the weight of her Chancellor duties, the absence of Clarke – she always seemed lighter in Kane’s presence. 

Abby returned Kane’s smile with one of her own and shrugged, leaning slightly into Kane, who then shifted his hand to rest on her back and closed the small gap between them. Ostensibly, Lincoln supposed, to better listen to her, but it mostly just seemed like an excuse to be nearer to her. 

After all, he had no problem at all catching Abby’s next words, despite being a half dozen feet away from the two of them. 

“Tired,” Abby said, her shoulders drooping as though only just remembering that she’d worked non-stop for nearly four days straight, “but glad that we seem to be over the worst of the flu epidemic that hit us last week.” 

Lincoln raised a brow. Both he and Jackson had asked Abby if she were tired about half a dozen times during the day and had only been met with a tight smile and a shake of the head. Kane’s brow furrowed. 

“You should go to bed,” Kane murmured. Even from where he was standing, Lincoln could see the tenderness in Kane’s eyes, could hear the gentleness in his tone as he spoke. 

If Abby was more honest with Kane, then Kane was a softer man around her. Or perhaps, Lincoln reflected, it was just that softness came easier to Kane when he was with Abby. 

Around camp, he was a man for whom the expression of warmth and affection came awkwardly, in fits and starts – as though he were a child fumbling with his first steps. There was always a moment of hesitation when he reached out to someone, an unsure expression that lingered every time he tried for tenderness. 

Yet, with Abby, it was as though he had to constantly force himself not to reach out and touch her; as if he couldn’t help but look at her without a sort of softness around his eyes. 

Even now, with half a dozen patients in med bay, with him and Jackson near enough to catch snippets of their conversation, Kane seemed unwilling – or, perhaps closer to the truth, unable – to keep himself from looking at Abby as though she were a revelation. 

“I’m sure that Lincoln and Jackson can handle these patients, Abby,” Kane continued on, his hand drifting across the expanse of her back in slow circles, the movement light and seemingly completely involuntary. 

For a moment, Abby seemed to consider his words, then simply shook her head. 

“I’ll be fine, Marcus,” she said, the words sure and steady – and undone in the next moment when she swayed unsteadily on her feet. She stumbled into him, her hands reaching blindly out to grab his shoulders, his hands coming down to grab her waist. 

Kane pushed out a harsh breath – half in exasperation, half in what seemed a desperate attempt to distract himself from Abby’s closeness. 

Lincoln noticed that Kane didn’t, however, step back from Abby once she’d steadied herself. That neither of them moved their hands away from one another. Instead, Abby lifted her head slowly, the chagrined expression melting away completely at the look in Kane’s eyes: affection and wonder and longing so steady and bright that Lincoln found himself turning away from the two, unable to keep from feeling like he was intruding on a private moment despite the wide open space of the medical bay. 

He looked down at the stack of herbs he was sorting, mostly to distract himself from the private moment Kane and Abby were sharing, and let the scents of them transport him away from the sterile environment around him. For a brief moment, he let himself indulge in memories of home, snippets of a life he could no longer run back to. 

His early childhood had been a quiet one in his small Trikru village. His father split his time between tracking and helping Nyko’s parents as the village healers. He had documented everything he found interesting during his scouting missions with detailed sketches that he would show Lincoln. His mother was kind-hearted, revered as one of the village’s fiercest warriors, and taught him combat skills. Because of their differing roles, his parents did not get to spend much time together. When they did, they spent their time teaching Lincoln skills to help the people of Trikru.

His entire life was turned upside down when an army of Reapers ambushed their village. He and his mother narrowly escaped, but his father suffered a fatal wound. It had driven his mother into a blind rage, hell-bent on revenge. She filled Lincoln with her fury, too, pulling him away from the remains of the village to live in isolation, training him to be a merciless and cold-blooded killer. With his adept tracking abilities, they hunted down and massacred the group of Reapers, but not before she was injected with the red drug. Burdened by grief, he realized he never again, wanted to feel the loneliness of losing his people or the pain of having to bury those he loved. 

A playful jab in his ribs brought him back to reality, as a grinning Octavia looked up at him.

“Earth to Lincoln,” Octavia joked as she cocked her eyebrows in amusement. “What’s on your mind?

Lincoln wrapped his arm around Octavia, pulling her close and kissing the crown of her hair. He tilted his head over in Kane and Abby’s direction, the two now spaced nearly two feet apart but somehow still giving the impression of closeness. 

Octavia glanced over in their direction and rolled her eyes, though the corner of her mouth turned up in a smirk as she did. 

“You should’ve seen them jump apart when I walked through the door.” She shook her head. “They know they’re not fooling anyone, right?” 

Lincoln laughed, then shrugged. He was fairly certain the only two people Kane and Abby were fooling were themselves. 

“It’s interesting,” he murmured instead, crinkling his brow. 

Octavia raised a brow. 

“What is?” 

“Ever since we came back from Mount Weather, Abby and Kane – they’ve become a team. Before, he almost seemed apprehensive of her decisions – like he was always trying to protect her. And now, even though Abby is the Chancellor, she seeks out his counsel and they trust each other’s decisions.”

Octavia nodded thoughtfully, then hopped up on the cot next to Lincoln.

“You know, I stopped by Kane’s room to see if he wanted to head out to our guard shift together, but I should have known better.” She huffed out a laugh. “Of course he would be here in medical, he’s always here. I don’t even know why I bothered swinging by his room.”

Lincoln nodded in agreement. 

“If he has a spare second, he’s probably here. He knows when Abby hasn’t eaten, so he’ll bring her food. He’s usually the only one here who can force her to take a break.”

Octavia nodded, then glanced over at Kane and Abby with a curious expression.

“You know, I was talking to Sinclair the other day and he said they were never like this on the Ark – that they were constantly fighting. Funny how things end up, I guess.” Octavia replied with a hint of amusement in her voice.

Lincoln turned her words over in his mind. It wasn’t exactly surprising once he thought it over. It was obvious that both Kane and Abby were both incredibly strong-willed individuals. He’d witnessed it firsthand with Abby, and could tell by the way Kane handled the guard and held himself that he, too, could be fairly unmovable. 

He tapped his fingers on the table beside him, watching as Kane and Abby looked over the datapad in her hands, their heads bowed closely together. 

Wherever they might have started, he admired the way they had so effectively moved past their differences and painstakingly worked so Skaikru and the Grounders might have a chance to live as one. It sparked a new glimmer of hope in him. 

This was the first time in a long time he felt that anyone shared his vision of survival. Yes, he knew that Luna kom Floukru swore off fighting after her conclave, but to him, isolating himself from the ongoing Grounder violence didn’t solve anything. Kane and Abby reassured him of his decision to stay with his people and fight for what he believed in. For once, the future he envisioned, could become a reality – not just for him, but Octavia too.

The calmness that had filled the room was momentarily interrupted when Miller poked his head into the med bay and called out “Guard rotation, you two are up next!” he nodded in Kane and Octavia’s general direction.

Octavia responded with a groan and rolled her eyes so that only Lincoln could see. He smirked, but peering over at Kane and Abby, he knew she wasn’t the only one reluctant to spend the rest of the evening outside in cold and silence.

Surprisingly, Abby was sitting down as Kane leaned against an empty bed next to her. There was a look of sadness on her face that Lincoln had come to associate with conversations about Clarke. Kane’s head was dipped low, his expression filled with empathy. He had his hand gently placed over hers, his thumb lightly stroking the back of her hand. Lincoln watched as the grimness in Abby’s face dissipated somewhat at what Kane was saying, nodding up at him with the barest hint of a smile on her lips. Kane smiled back down at her, encouraging and sympathetic, before slowly starting to stand up, his hand still clutching hers. Lincoln couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt for breaking up the brief moment they had to relax and be in each other’s company. His thoughts flashed back to their trek from Mount Weather, when Kane never left Abby’s side. Octavia sensed his grimace and grabbed his wrist to get his attention, eyeing the door, furtively gesturing for the two of them two head out. Lincoln understood right away.

He nodded pointedly at Octavia before slowly walking over to where Kane and Abby were standing. He pretended to fumble with his sleeves, keeping his eyes trained on the ground as he cleared his throat loudly before looking up at the two in front of him. 

“If it’s alright with both of you, I’d like to be the one to take guard shift with Octavia tonight,” he said, glancing over at where Octavia was strapping in her sword and shuffling into her gloves. “We haven’t been able to spend a lot of time together lately because of the flu that hit and it would be nice to get out and be outside for a few hours.” 

Abby smiled tiredly up at him while Kane looked him over appraisingly. 

“That’s absolutely fine with me,” Abby said, looking up at Kane. “Marcus?” 

Kane gave him a long, questioning look before nodding slowly. 

“If you really don’t mind, I certainly would be ok with staying in and out of the cold for a few hours.” He looked over at Octavia, then back at Lincoln. “Do you want to trade shifts?” 

Lincoln shook his head. 

“It’s fine, Kane. I just want to do what I can to help.” 

Kane nodded and was about to turn and say something to Abby when Jackson called her name from across the medical bay. 

“Excuse me,” she said, nodding towards both of them. She walked a few paces before she stopped and turned around. “Lincoln, make sure to take your gloves this time – it’s been freezing these past few nights outside.” 

Lincoln smiled and nodded at her. 

Kane watched her walk away, a look of complete affection written clearly on his face, before turning and clapping Lincoln on the shoulder. 

“Thanks, Lincoln. Arkadia is lucky to have your help.” 

Lincoln quirked an eyebrow, a smile flitting across his lips. 

“I wouldn’t say it was Arkadia I was trying to help tonight,” he said, his tone placid as always but his eyes darting between Abby’s small frame and the man in front of him, the expression in them almost teasing. 

Kane huffed a small laugh and shook his head, squeezing Lincoln’s shoulder once before letting go. 

“Well, I’d say that it’s certainly appreciated, whatever the intent.” 

The corners of Lincoln’s mouth curved into a smile as he nodded reassuringly. He turned around, grabbed his jacket and gloves before following Octavia out into the frigid night.

The dry, icy air burned their lungs as soon as they stepped outside. Octavia shuddered, jamming her hands into her jacket pockets. 

“Bet now you wish you didn’t trade places with Kane.”

Lincoln chuckled and shook his head. He reached down to find her hand, intertwining their fingers. 

“Come on, we’ll be warmer if we walk quickly and I have a feeling it will be another calm night, so we won’t have to split up to cover the same amount of ground.”

Their boots crunched against the frozen ground as they patrolled camp. They soon forgot about the cold as they continued their conversation from earlier in medical. He brought up his hopes for their future and the memories of his childhood and encounter with Luna that crossed his mind while in the company of Kane and Abby.

It was nearly two in the morning when their shift ended. As they headed back to their quarters, he let go of Octavia’s hand and with a gentle touch, brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“I’ll catch up with you. I’m going to go make sure medical is locked up,” he said.

As he approached medical, his eyebrows furrowed when he saw that the lights were still on. Half expecting to see Abby on her feet, finishing some last minute inventory, he let out an exasperated sigh as he entered. A sense of relief flooded him when he swept the room to find Kane and Abby sunken deeply into the couch, fast asleep. Kane’s hand rested on Abby’s knee, while her head had fallen onto his shoulder. He couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face as he basked in this rare moment between them. With one last look, he turned off the lights and quietly locked the doors, leaving Kane and Abby to finally get the rest they deserved.


End file.
